Sac County Debates Affordable Housing Program July 28

Sac County Debates Affordable Housing Program July 28

A draft affordable housing program under consideration by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will be presented at public workshop on Wednesday, July 28 at 2:00 PM, 700 H Sreet, Suite 1450, Sacramento. Persons interested in helping provide homes for low income individuals and families should definitely make plans to attend. Let the Board members know they need to be more proactive in alleviating the extreme housing shortage in Sacramento County.

The current plan requires that 15% of new housing be dedicated to the construction of affordable housing units (single family or apartments) for low income individuals and families. However, it unfairly distributes the requirements of affordability to a mere 2% for extremely low income families (less than $19,250 year), 7% for very low income families (less than $32,050 year) and 6% for low income families (less than $51,300 year). Once again it appears as if those who need help the most, are getting the least.

The Sacramento Housing Alliance (a non-profit coalition promoting affordable housing for lower income households and people who are homeless) is asking the Board to change the allocation of the 15% – granting 5% to low income, 5% to very low income, and 5% to extremely low income groups. This will at least give a little more help to those in the lowest income group.

In Sacramento the rental housing market has tightened dramatically, especially for those seeking low-end rentals. In just three years housing prices went up 68.7%. Two out of three families can’t afford to buy a median priced house. Many families must pay more than half their income in rent. Rents have increased so much that a minimum-wage worker would need to work 86 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment. The 2004 Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a studio apartment in Sacramento is $674/month ($8,088/year), for a two-bedroom apartment it is $950/month ($11,400/year).

The household income of low-income renters – those at the 20th percentile – fell 10.3 percent, from $16,249 to $14,580, between 1989 and 2002, after adjusting for inflation. The median household income for renters with children fell 7.1 percent during the same period, from $33,361 to $31,001, after adjusting for inflation.

For those on fixed incomes, the situation has reached a crisis level. An elderly or disabled person receiving an SSI/SSP grant of $758/month ($9,096/year) will find it impossible to rent a home or apartment; a senior citizen receiving Social Security (maximum amounts for 2004 range from $1,422/month, or $17,064/year, for a person retiring at age 62 to $2,111/month, or $25,332/year, for a person retiring at age 70) will have problems qualifying for a rental in Sacramento County.

Who else falls into the category of extremely low income persons? How about a Retail Salesperson earning $17,014/year, a Janitor making $17,014/year, or a Child Care Worker with an income of $16,162/year? Their income would not even qualify them to rent a studio apartment, since apartment owners normally require that income be at least 3 times the monthly rental. For a studio, this would be approximately $2,000/month or $24,000/year.

When the budget cuts coming from the administration in Washington, D.C. are factored in, the housing situation, and the inevitable increase in homelessness, is bleak.

In April, HUD announced unexpected and retroactive funding changes to the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program. Instead of continuing to fund housing authorities based on the current cost of their housing vouchers, HUD announced it would fund them based on the cost of vouchers in August of 2003, plus a modest adjustment factor. This has resulted in hundreds of families in Sacramento County facing increased rents or eviction within the next three months. In addition, the President’s FY2005 budget calls for a $1.6 billion cut to the voucher program next year, with additional cuts planned each year through 2009.

In Sacramento County, there were 5, 370 authorized vouchers as of July 2003. The proposed budget cuts for FY 2005 would reduce funding to the county by an estimated $5,286,670 above what has already been lost in 2004. If the necessary cuts are carried out by reducing the number of vouchers, 651 families would lose Section 8 subsidies. If the cuts are carried out by increasing the amount of rent each family would pay, the result would be an annual increase in rent of $964.00. The numbers are similar for the City of Sacramento.

Revisions are being proposed in Congress which “appear” to reverse these cuts in funding for 2005. The new budget proposal restores some funding to the Section 8 rental-subsidy program but cuts all of the other important programs in the housing budget, including some that serve the elderly, the disabled and the homeless.

One step in the right direction is to put pressure on the Board of Supervisors to change the allocation of new housing units and give a larger percentage to the extremely low income persons. Then we really need to focus on the priorities of Sacramento and Sacramento County. I find it disillusioning to see on the Board’s agenda for July 27 the consideration of a proposal being presented by the City of Sacramento to finance a new sports arena in downtown Sacramento (or possibly in Natomas where the Arco Arena is now located) at an estimated cost ranging from $528 to $658 million. But we can’t afford $5 million to replace the federal cuts and provide homes for residents of our city and county.